For about a year I've been trying to get the brcmsmac wifi driver to work on my notebook - to no avail. I've always had to go back to the prioprietary broadcom-sta driver, which - apart from flooding my logs with error messages - worked quite reliably.

Unfortunately the broadcom-sta driver causes the kernel to crash on the 3.6.x kernel versions so again I tried to get the brcmsmac driver to work - ending up having the same issues I did in my previous attempts:
The network connection is so extremely flaky that it becomes unusable. So I wanted to know if anybody else has had similar issues with the mentioned opensource driver and possibly knows a workaround for it.

If you need more information, let me know._________________in the world I see, you're stalking elk throught the grand canyon forests, around the ruins of the rockefeller center. You'll wear leather clothes, that will last you the rest of your life... (Tylers Vision)

1st) I dont have that broadcom, but I have 3 different wifi cards, and you didnt write what's the problem with your connection ( fail to associate, authenticate or drops connection )
2nd ) with newest firmware (linux-firmware-20120909) ALL my wifi cars have problems with authentication, sometimes it work, mostly not -> works fine for me linux-firmware-20120502
3rd) you can try manually lower connection rate via eg. iwconfig wlanX rate 5.5M ( doubt if it help )
4th) try windows drivers via ndiswrapper -> this may be best solution
5th) maybe you dont need 3.6 at all revert kernel and just wait for proprietary drivers, you can also check some live distro with 3.6 kernel and see if it works there
6th) try disabling encryption or change to WEP ( crackable in 10 mins ) - but some cards wotks then much better_________________ Installation aborted to prevent system self-destruction

5th) maybe you dont need 3.6 at all revert kernel and just wait for proprietary drivers, you can also check some live distro with 3.6 kernel and see if it works there
I think I had the same issue with the ubuntu distros. I haven't tried that in the last few months though. And I am currently using the older kernel. It is just strange that I have been having this issue for over a year so I though it may be a configuration issue etc.

6th) try disabling encryption or change to WEP ( crackable in 10 mins ) - but some cards wotks then much better

Hi and thanks for your answer,

1) I also have different notebooks / tabs with wifi cards. This problem is of course solely related to the device in question. The connection can be established, but then the packets somewhat get lost after a few second so it is not possible to watch a youtube video etc. It is however not so that the device is deassociated from the AP. It's just that packets don't seem to reach their destination. That's why I pasted the log entries.

2) I am using the newest stable firmware (linux-firmware-20120719). Even tried the latest fw from the git repp of the project but with the same issues. I've had the same problems about a year ago so the issue isn't related to the firmware. Besides the same firmware is used for the proprietary driver and there it works flawlessly.

3) Well, I may try that but it rather sounds like a desperate measure.

4) I would rather prefer to use the older (3.5.x) kernel versions than doing that.

5) I am right now using 3.5 so yes, that issue isn't really pressing. But the prioprietary drivers have their own (small) issues and in the long term I would prefer the opensource drivers. I assume that there must be a workaround for the issue I am having.

6) I have experience in hacking WEP APs myself using aircrack-ng. Switching to WEP is not an option and a (very bad) suggestion to make.

Regards - momesana_________________in the world I see, you're stalking elk throught the grand canyon forests, around the ruins of the rockefeller center. You'll wear leather clothes, that will last you the rest of your life... (Tylers Vision)

For about a year I've been trying to get the brcmsmac wifi driver to work on my notebook - to no avail. I've always had to go back to the prioprietary broadcom-sta driver, which - apart from flooding my logs with error messages - worked quite reliably.

Unfortunately the broadcom-sta driver causes the kernel to crash on the 3.6.x kernel versions so again I tried to get the brcmsmac driver to work - ending up having the same issues I did in my previous attempts:
The network connection is so extremely flaky that it becomes unusable. So I wanted to know if anybody else has had similar issues with the mentioned opensource driver and possibly knows a workaround for it.

Hi, momesana. I have exactly the same BCM4313 wifi device in my dell n3010 laptop. I use the opensource brcmsmac driver since kernel-2.6.38 to 3.7.0-rc1. It is working very good here for a long time. For firmware, I don't use sys-kernel/linux-firmware. Instead I use net-wireless/brcm-firmware that I created.
If you want, I can post my full kernel config and live ebuild for firmware.

Hi, momesana. I have exactly the same BCM4313 wifi device in my dell n3010 laptop. I use the opensource brcmsmac driver since kernel-2.6.38 to 3.7.0-rc1. It is working very good here for a long time. For firmware, I don't use sys-kernel/linux-firmware. Instead I use net-wireless/brcm-firmware that I created.
If you want, I can post my full kernel config and live ebuild for firmware.

Hi Keenblade,
I would be greatful for both, the kernel config and the custom ebuild.

Thanks in advance - momesana_________________in the world I see, you're stalking elk throught the grand canyon forests, around the ruins of the rockefeller center. You'll wear leather clothes, that will last you the rest of your life... (Tylers Vision)

Note: Currently I also use
networkmanager-0.9.6.0
nm-applet-0.9.6.2
kernel-3.7.0-rc1 (I just tried this git kernel and wireless works perfect with it, too.)_________________Anyway it's all the same at the end...
Need help to get it working: "x-fi surround 5.1"

But on pf-sources-3.7.3 I have problem. No entries in dmesg, brcmsmac module is compiled but not loaded automaticly, but even if I load it by hand I can't get wlan networks visible.
.config-3.7.3

# grep -i bcma /usr/src/linux-3.7.3-pf/.config

Code:

CONFIG_BCMA_POSSIBLE=y
CONFIG_BCMA=m
CONFIG_BCMA_HOST_PCI_POSSIBLE=y
# CONFIG_BCMA_HOST_PCI is not set
# CONFIG_BCMA_DRIVER_GMAC_CMN is not set
# CONFIG_BCMA_DEBUG is not set
# CONFIG_USB_HCD_BCMA is not set

# grep -i brcmsmac /usr/src/linux-3.7.3-pf/.config

Code:

CONFIG_BRCMSMAC=m

I thing problem is in .config but from quick look it look ok to me. Any ideas

i have a dv9000 and used firmware cutter and something else.... works great for wep, wpa2-psk, mac whitelisting, & plain open aps.... can snap wep up in 2 minutes with injection tested & working...

i dislike the fact that its using closed sources, if this foss driver can inject ill break the ole laptop trying to put this foss driver on. im pretty sure its a bcm 4313 (on the desktop with ath5k at the moment)

I can use the brcsmac driver (kernel 3.6.11) but only on a freshly started system. After any suspend / resume, the wifi card is unusable. I have switched to a USB wifi card based on a Ralink RT2800 chip. Works perfectly and reliably.

I can use the brcsmac driver (kernel 3.6.11) but only on a freshly started system. After any suspend / resume, the wifi card is unusable. I have switched to a USB wifi card based on a Ralink RT2800 chip. Works perfectly and reliably.

You add additional wifi card or use Broadcomm card with RaLink driver?

You add additional wifi card or use Broadcomm card with RaLink driver?

I use a USB WiFi transmitter (I guess it is called a WiFi dongle), which I just connect to one of the USB ports on my laptop. The built-in WiFi card is Broadcom.

The USB dongle is made by Buffalo (brand), and it uses a Ralink RT2800 chip. So in my kernel I have support for brcmsmac and Ralink RT28xx wireless cards. In NetworkManager (Gnome) I disable the Broadcom card and only use the USB dongle. Works very well.

Hi, momesana. I have exactly the same BCM4313 wifi device in my dell n3010 laptop. I use the opensource brcmsmac driver since kernel-2.6.38 to 3.7.0-rc1. It is working very good here for a long time. For firmware, I don't use sys-kernel/linux-firmware. Instead I use net-wireless/brcm-firmware that I created.
If you want, I can post my full kernel config and live ebuild for firmware.

unbelievable !!! it works .. i use 3.7.2 with your config. and your ebuild. only thing is that the LED does not work. thanks a LOT !!!! now i have to check at the university if this is working there too...
(i am connected with wpa2 at home, but university always gave me problems with wpa2)_________________I do not have a Superman complex, for I am God not Superman

To be done for softmac driver
Add support for
40MHz channels
powersave
debugfs (for accessing counters and other diagnostic info)
IBSS
AP
LED support
HW-based encryption
Add support for more chips, including (near term) BCM43227, BCM43228, and BCM4331. Support for additional new chips to follow.

I used broadcom-sta for my BCM4313 (14e4:4727), but at some point my notebook (Lenovo E130) lost ability to connect to my Nokia N9 wi-fi hotspot (it worked before only on unencrypted connection). After several attempts to install brcmsmac I managed to make it work properly with my DIR-300 NRU B7 router (I use WPA2-PSK). There are two options:
1. Switch router auth to tkip (this will make the brcmsmac to disable HT/VHT). I also set bandwith to 20MHz instead of 20/40MHz+, but it looks like this is not necessary.
2. Run command:
iw wlp3s0 set bitrates mcs-2.4 0 1 2 3 4 (wlp3s0 is name of wireless interface on my computer).

First method gives much better seeking time when watching youtube videos via smplayer2. Looks like brcmsmac is trying to increase connection rate when smplayer2 is caching video in memory and at some point goes over hardware limit of wi-fi card. Problems occur when it is over 54MBit/s.
Now I have excellent working connection with router and encrypted connection with phone. I also have a question: is there a way to disable HT/VHT with some command?

UPD: In around 6 meter have minor connection problems with disabled HT/VHT. Not too important for me, just for notice.
UPD2: Method 2 (AES + iw) gives much more stable connection at same distance.